Note to Future Self
I got a giant check from my firm yesterday for no reason, other than they believe I'll contribute value in the future. It's quite astounding when you think about it, and I owe a great debt to the superhuman negotiating skills of the lawyers who came before me, straight out of law school and making ridiculous demands.
Perhaps the lesson from this is should act like an even bigger asshole whenever I can get away with it. I was reading some old blog posts where I was contemplating that I need to put my foot down more often so that I don't eat shit all the time. And my recent service on the KZSU board proved to me that most people are terrible leaders or managers, because they're too worried about being confused themselves that they don't put any thought into communicating a comprehensible message. I was basically the only person who could relate to the new student manager (the board told him to make a choice; he made a choice; the board wanted to veto it and then suggest the exact opposite choice) who was struggling under the direction of a disaggregated board that was punting all it's inability to find consensus onto him. In short, I was the only one who remembered what it's like to be ordered around, irrationally and with no opportunity to negotiate.
On the other hand, my view now is that in the grand scheme of things, nothing I have to offer now is really worth the compensation I'm getting. People are taking a leap of faith on me. So to that end, I should stop and think whenever I feel like complaining that my work is too boring, or my clients are too trivial, that the conversations I have to have are too insipid, or that people are trying to control me because I'm too pretty.
I should ask myself: is this a reaction a spoiled asshole would have? And if the answer is yes, I should cut it out.
Perhaps the lesson from this is should act like an even bigger asshole whenever I can get away with it. I was reading some old blog posts where I was contemplating that I need to put my foot down more often so that I don't eat shit all the time. And my recent service on the KZSU board proved to me that most people are terrible leaders or managers, because they're too worried about being confused themselves that they don't put any thought into communicating a comprehensible message. I was basically the only person who could relate to the new student manager (the board told him to make a choice; he made a choice; the board wanted to veto it and then suggest the exact opposite choice) who was struggling under the direction of a disaggregated board that was punting all it's inability to find consensus onto him. In short, I was the only one who remembered what it's like to be ordered around, irrationally and with no opportunity to negotiate.
On the other hand, my view now is that in the grand scheme of things, nothing I have to offer now is really worth the compensation I'm getting. People are taking a leap of faith on me. So to that end, I should stop and think whenever I feel like complaining that my work is too boring, or my clients are too trivial, that the conversations I have to have are too insipid, or that people are trying to control me because I'm too pretty.
I should ask myself: is this a reaction a spoiled asshole would have? And if the answer is yes, I should cut it out.
posted by Rex at 4:57 PM
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